


A Different Sort of Crisis, AKA, Making the Best of Things Gone Terribly Wrong

by Shatterpath



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AgentCorpWeek2020, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, BAMF Alex Danvers, Gay Disasters, Gen, but nothing horrible i hope, there is some gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23453974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: Because, really, shouldn't the Crisis-reality-reboot have been more dramatic than it was?
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	A Different Sort of Crisis, AKA, Making the Best of Things Gone Terribly Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so this one is an oddball. Not a damn clue where it came from, but once I got going, BAM! I do like to dabble at themes/challenges I haven't before and this is a perfect example of that. 
> 
> For the theme of 'hurt/comfort'. Yes, I'm aware this is a bit of a reach. Sue me. -smirk-
> 
> Started about 8:30 am on Friday 1-31-2020. I know because I checked the timestamp on my IM notes! Finished 3-21.  
> Uses the prompts: 'But what really happened after Crisis?' and 'supernatural AU'.

Lena had no idea what was going on.

That was bad enough, but it was compounded by two layers of contradictory information clashing in her head…

And the screaming outside.

There'd been red skies, the death of their very reality at their doorstep. Not just this world, but layers of dimension and history that stretched though space and time in infinite diversity. She'd tried so hard to help save it, to spirit away as much of her Earth to another…

But in the end, it was useless.

Yet, a moment or an eternity of nothingness, like the utter emptiness of reality before the Big Bang gave it form and purpose. Then a blink, a twist and snap and breath of life to all that was…

And Lena sitting in her familiar chair at her familiar desk in her familiar office, wondering if she'd had some sort of mental breakdown. For what felt like endless heartbeats, she sat there, still as a hunted mouse, trying to get a feel for what was around her.

Luthorcorp, L-Corp, Lex gone and back again, Kara betraying her trust by not telling her what she should have known… and yet she'd known before they even met…

What was the truth?

She'd barely taken note of the words wrought artistically in metal on her wall when the screaming started up. The wailing finally made her move, jumping in startled reaction, twisting around to her wall of windows to add her own muffled shriek to the cacophony. Like a Hollywood special effect, amorphous faces and bodies crowded there, transparent and tattered like fog against the night sky, their edges indistinct as water soaking into the shore.

Ghosts.

She knew they were a real thing, a scientific known of lingering life energy not yet willing to dissipate to other planes of existence, and yet… mustn't this be a terrible hoax?

Tell that to the nerves in her lower spine that crawled with the sound of semi-corporeal fingernails raking against the glass.

Then a scream from outside her office doors made her jump, barely able to tear her wide eyes away from the horrors so close. There was a roar and heavy impacts, that last of which was right against the doors, which horrifyingly swung open. In the time it took a bloodied-up Jess to scramble in and slam the door behind her even as something heavy smashed into it, relief didn't even register. She simply stared speechlessly, nearly falling out of her chair with a little scream when her trusted assistant rushed over to grab her arm.

"We have to get out of here! Something in the timeline has gone horribly wrong."

Somehow, Lena was on her feet and being herded to a blank wall of her office. No, not a blank wall but… yes, an elevator. Part of her marveled as the nearly-invisible seam split and part of her was thankful it worked, because there was something violent and persistent roaring at her quaking office door.

"This shouldn't be happening," Jess muttered as she shoved Lena into the elevator car and smacked the only button on the stainless steel wall. "It's too early!"

Even as the elevator smoothly slid shut, the office doors exploded inward, a flash of menacing human figures there, eyes glowing and mouths open to reveal vicious fangs. And then Lena was left staring in shock at flat metal while the elevator fell away and the renewed violence of the… the vampires, fell away.

It felt like her head was going to rip itself apart. Vampires and ghosts were the domain of corny stories and bad television and she had no time for that nonsense… yet she knew that they had been a part of the world for as long as humans themselves. They waxed and waned throughout history, sometimes thinned out to the point where they seemed gone, and other times numerous enough that it was a miracle that the species that gave them life survived.

"Too early," Lena said faintly as the elevator dropped almost dangerously fast. There was as much decisiveness as question there, reflecting her continued confusion.

"It's not even new moon," Jess grumbled darkly as she dabbed her sleeve against the gory wound at her shoulder with more distaste than pain. "And equinox only just passed! We should still be a month away from this anarchy!"

As though on cue, something landed heavily on the roof of the elevator car, making both women flinch and stare upward. Oh, that couldn't be good….

"Brace yourself," Jess warned and grabbed the sturdy rail running around the car, Lena following suit. "We're going to have to make a run for it when we land."

Jess was out first, being just a bit smaller, squeezing through as the doors slid soundlessly open, Lena ignoring the smears of blood transferred to her clothing as she quickly followed. By the rising racket from the elevator, the faster they made their destination, the better.

Lena knew this level of the L-Corp… LuthorCorp… whatever, building. But it looked slightly off and yet exactly as it should be.

This conflict in her memories was maddening.

At the end of a short hallway with a few normal doors leading off to nice, normal labs, was another door, this one very different than the others. Well, not the door itself, but what lay behind it. Sensors created and installed by Lena herself --half of her remembered the project this half of the level had been-- noted their presence and the unmarked door swung inward. Lights were flickering to life in the small antechamber within even as the door slammed shut behind them. And not a moment too soon, the violence once more at their heels.

Before them lay a vault door, awaiting Lena's command. But, for a long moment, the mental agony of her conflicting memories had her staring at the keypad blankly. What was all of this? What was she supposed to _do_ with it?

Then Jess' fast, terrified panting focused her. Survival. This was about survival and the information she needed was in the jumbled mess of contradictory memories. And with calm came the alphanumerical code that would be their salvation.

The keys chimed at the touch of her fingers, a melody that released the locks with a thud of great pins pulling out of the building's superstructure. With nary a whisper of sound save for displaced air, the two-foot thick door swung inward and at last… they were safe.

Even as lights continued to come to life in the still, quiet space, both Lena and Jess leaned against the huge door to catch their breath, hearts calming.

"Welcome back, ladies," a soft-spoken woman's voice made Lena jump and Jess chuckled wearily.

"Hey, Buster," she greeted back to… no one, and walked further into the lab of Lena's dreams. "Can you please start standard infection protocols? I'm pretty sure these wounds are superficial, but better safe than pointy, huh?"

"Of course, Jess," the disembodied voice replied, as foreign and familiar as everything else about this whole weirdness since reality had been torn apart by red oblivion. Buster. The computer system so sophisticated that if she wasn't a full artificial intelligence yet, she was damn close. "Lab two is clean."

"Thanks."

In a wall of transparent material compounds thick enough it looked like it should be holding back thousands of tons of water, a door opened and closed once more behind the bloodied Jess.

Alarm flashed through Lena and she rushed after, even as the thick door clicked shut behind her friend.

"Jess! What are you doing?"

Behind the thick transparent, Jess looked at her like she'd lost her mind. Her voice carried through hidden speakers just as Buster's did. "What are you talking about? We can't take the chance that I'm infected and you know it. Are you okay?"

Infected. The deadly chemical cocktail the bite of a vampire left behind in a healthy human, the thing they understood too little about, and so desperately needed to solve. This was Lena's life work… wasn't it?

With the cessation of danger, the agony of conflicting information in Lena's head roared to the forefront once again. Groaning, she sank to the nearest workbench to cradle her head in her hands. She built this lab years ago, fresh out of college. Young enough that most of her peers were barely into their second year, she'd been fired up by a close call with a Leech on campus. So she'd leveraged the weight of her famous name and fortune to collect the best minds in the world into a brain trust to improve humanity's knowledge of the Supernaturals. 

It annoyed her that she'd needed Lex's backing up to convince too many of them to see past her youth and good looks. Sexism was at least one commonality in the clash of memory. 

Lex.

Whoo boy, that was a mess she wasn't certain she could unravel. In this reality, he'd never gone mad, never been a mass murderer, never tortured her so subversively her entire life. The calm around the remembered pain of all that felt both amazing and utterly foreign. 

"Lena?"

It was Buster, the AI she had crafted with need and the intellect blessed to her from birth. That convinced her that there was truth of existence here, that whether she were mad or not, she wasn't going to leave her companions to suffer. Not if she could do something about it.

Breathing deep, she rubbed both hands over her face, uncaring that she had doubtlessly just ruined the carefully applied armor of layered color on her skin.

"Honestly, you wouldn't believe me even if I tried to explain. I'm not even sure I know exactly what is wrong. So let's get to you, Jess. Then we'll figure out how to save the world. Again."

Hours later, Jess was past the danger zone and still her familiar self. Tired and hungry, but happy her pal was going to be okay, Lena finally had a thought for the outside world. Going over her research had solidified this new reality into her clashing memories, taking the edge off the burn of red skies from her internal movie reel. 

She'd only just freed Jess to fuss over the cleaning up Buster had done with robotic servos when the next crisis arrived.

"Lena?" the AI piped up suddenly. "Kara is here and has cleared the door of hostiles."

"Oh, thank god," she gasped, completely willing to set aside the simmering resentment that had almost ruined her past self. "Verification protocols."

A monitor blazed to life to show Supergirl at the door, gore splashed over the once-pristine surfaces of the lab level. Kara's jaw was set, muscles flexed, her good looks and primary colors dulled by a night of violence painted all over her. A peek through a fiber-optic cable confirmed the exterior cameras and Lena released the door to let in Kara and a wave of stomach-aching stink that this new part of her knew all too well.

For long moments the besties stared at each other, both wracked with conflicting memories. It was a disconcerting pause before Kara swallowed hard. After another heavy moment, she spoke, voice harsh and cracking.

"I'd give you a heck of a hug if I weren't such a mess."

It was a very… Kara thing to say and Lena was a little surprised to feel a smile quirking her mouth, pulling stiffly at her face as though it had been a long, long time since she had done just this.

"Raincheck?"

Some small relief took away just a fraction of Kara's tension, also curling up her mouth just a little bit.

"Raincheck. Can you come help me? It's daylight again and things have… quieted down. But a…" her voice broke alarmingly and her blue eyes were abruptly awash in tears. "But a lot happened last night."

"Of course I'll come, Kara. Buster, can we please link up to the DEO command center?"

"Done. I'll be there when you arrive."

While Lena and Jess found some warm, generic LuthorCorp coats in a supply cabinet, Kara washed up in a blur, removing the gore that might endanger her companions. Then they headed out. What was left of the vampires, three of them by the quantity of viscera, was already putrefying, the parasitical change wrought on the once-humans consuming them.

"I'll never get used to that," Jess said quietly, more than willing to join Lena in climbing into Kara's arms to be flown over the mess and up the elevator shaft. The roof of the car had been torn up beyond repair, first by the pursuing vampires then by the Girl of Steel. The same was echoed at the doors back in Lena's office, remarkably intact save for the broken doors. Out the glass door reinforced with technology and chemical layers to keep back the ghosts and over the edge of the balcony had Lena clinging to Kara and burying her face in her shoulder to keep back the fear of flying.

Not to mention it filtered out some of the miasma of stink that reached even this height.

"My god," Jess breathed softly. "It's so much worse than I thought it would be…"

Kara said nothing, but her whole body flinched.

Daylight had killed the mindless monsters who had not found a dark place to hide, leaving the city both disgusting and dangerous. There were policies and infrastructure already in place for such an emergency… but the streets were so quiet. 

Too quiet. 

In moments, they alighted not on one of the familiar balconies, but in the main hanger of the Department of Extranormal Operations.

"Brace yourselves," Kara warned softly. "It was a rough night."

The rampant infection of the population that had somehow boiled out of control overnight, had struck here too. There were bodies everywhere, dozens and dozens of them in various states of decay.

Walking towards the command center only made it worse.

There had been quite the fight here, makeshift barriers set up at defensible positions, spent ammunition dangerous underfoot, walls chewed up by bullet and vampire alike, glass shattered at every turn.

And it was quiet. So very, very quiet.

The smattering of survivors moved among the debris and the quarantine tents that seemed like they were set up every ten feet or so.

"So many…" Lena whispered, hardly able to get her mind around what she was seeing. There were wounded in the skeleton crew, those who had been damaged but left uninfected like Jess.

Everyone's eyes were so hollow they might as well have died with their comrades in the night.

A woman limped over, left arm held rigid in a cast slung to her body and right leg clearly battered in some manner. It took a moment for Lena to place her. Susan. Alex's reliable sidekick and the best barometer to how the DEO was doing overall. Which was not good at all.

Wait…

Alex…

Where was Alex?

There was no sign of her assertive stride, no familiar shape of her, no wisp of her voice as the sharp end of the DEO spear. Even as dread crept cold up Lena's spine, Susan swayed to a halt, nearly collapsing onto Kara, who brought up quick hands to steady her.

"No change, good or bad."

And with that cryptic comment, she heaved a great breath and somehow found the strength to hobble back the way she'd come, to a command center that seemed hushed as the grave.

"Come on," Kara coaxed and headed towards deeper levels of the DEO, where the truly dangerous things were kept. Even the prisoners were subdued as they passed by several hallways of cells to the labs that Lena knew, but not as well as their counterparts above.

The lab was cluttered in the way occupied spaces were cluttered. Mugs and clipboards and an action figure or two scattered about the computers and medical equipment. Like every sane space in this crazy world, sunlight running down fiber optic lines lit the space in warm, healthy light.

And illuminated a huddled figure at the far end of the heavily reinforced medical cell there.

Lena would recognize that tousled mop of hair and those broad shoulders anywhere, even as much of a mess that Alex clearly was. If Kara was crunchy around the edges with the viscera of a long night, Alex was caked in it. And when Lena keyed the two-way speaker and Alex's head snapped up, it only got worse. Lena brought both hands to her face to cover a gasp so femme-fatale she would be embarrassed at some future date. Alex smiled wearily and found the energy for a quip.

"You should see the other guy."

The little sobbing laugh that strangled its way up from Lena's chest said more than words ever could. 

Somehow, Alex was alive. Impossibly, wondrously alive. Even with dried blood caked over her neck and chin from what had to have been a horrifically deadly wound, she was sitting there alive, skin intact and color a little pale, but good.

"There were so many of them," Kara whispered, voice agonized as she placed a hand flat to the transparent barrier. Alex hopped up, wavered a moment, and walked over to mirror that open hand. "Even I couldn't stop them all."

Clearing her throat roughly, she scrubbed away the tears, but never moved the hand so close to her sister's.

"I didn't see it happen, but she was up and attacking so fast that it was clear she'd been hit. Rao, Alex, you moved so _fast_. The agents hesitated too long and someone else would have died. So I grabbed her and headed for a rooftop nearby. It was like wrestling a full-grown tiger. So then what? And I remembered you carry little bits of kryptonite and I had to see if I could save you. Lena mentioned wondering if it were possible if kryptonian physiology might not have some fascinating effects on your human curse."

Through her scattered memories, Lena did remember speculating along those lines ages ago when she met Kara, but the fallout from her brother nearly really harming Clark was too close. It would always be too close.

But wasn't he the good guy?

Shaking it off, Lena gently touched Kara's arm where it lay so close to Alex, locked away for everyone's safety. "Go on."

"So I ripped open one of the lead casings protecting me from the kryptonite and shoved my wrist in her mouth and let her bite me."

The matter-of-fact statement hung in the air.

"I have to say, that was a unique pain, but not as bad as you'd think for those razor-sharp fangs. It only took a few seconds for her to calm down and I threw the kryptonite off the edge of the roof and it was like it never happened except for the mess."

With a darkly humorous huff, Kara pointed at her sister, whose face was wreathed in soft sympathy.

"Though you went a little bonkers on me, Alex. If you were strong and fast before, you were almost equal with me there for a couple hours. It took real effort to keep you from getting to anyone and hauling you back here."

"My hero," Alex said gently and they all sniffled a bit.

"I had a good role model," Kara whispered back and Lena had to turn away or cry in front of her friends.

"So, I guess I'm something else now. I suppose this was inevitable with the work." 

The blasé tone was stark contrast to Alex's soft and scared eyes.

"But what am I?"

There was no answers, and knowledge was the only reassurance they could strive for. So Lena set to work, pouring over what the sensors had recorded, Buster and Jess assisting her. Despite all of them knowing there was probably little to learn that way, scientific protocols were important for posterity.

But, in the end, there was little to be ascertained through the barrier. Still, there was no small danger in letting Alex free, illustrated in the way she hungrily followed every movement of Lena and Jess in the room. The latter finally grew so unnerved that she had to leave.

Unlike Lena's personal lab, this facility didn't have auto-servos built in and she really needed samples. Small objects could be passed back and forth though the slot meant for meals, though the smell drove Lena back with a choke. 

Swabbing off a variety of the disgusting mess still covering her was easy enough for Alex. When blood-taking materials were passed to her, things got more interesting. Lena watched her friend snap the rubber cord in place and swab the inside of her elbow clean as though she'd done this a thousand times before. A quick, expert stab and… nothing.

Two more tries were the same, the little holes sealing up as quick as the needle left her skin.

"Well, that's disconcerting," Alex said with a false calm that Lena recognized all too well. When those deep, dark eyes looked up again, there was a deepening need there, raw and animalistic. Smacking her forehead, Lena was completely exasperated with herself.

"Of course! You're hungry. Kara, will you see if you can find a few pints of whole blood? Maybe even some plasma if it's available." With one sister sent on her way, Lena turned to the other. "I'll have some clothes sent down. You need to decontaminate and now."

"Not arguing," Alex agreed, happy for the distraction, and started stripping. After a few moments she called out over the speakers, "ready."

Lean keyed the shower from her console. It wasn't fancy, but there was a nice, safe decontamination chemical in the water that would work on anything smeared into Alex's skin and hair. Kara came back after a few minutes handing off the blood bag to Lena to be warmed and heading over to tease her sister.

"You look to be in good shape, all things considered."

"Well, you see, I have this amazing sibling."

"Yes you do."

They bantered back and forth and wrestled a towel and clean clothes through the small slot that now released only the scents of Lysol and hot water. Lena was getting worried over the stats recorded by the instruments in the cell.

"Alex, your temperature and blood pressure is getting low. We need to do this."

It was an restless wait for the blood bag to heat to body temperature and press it through the slot to Alex's hands.

And she stared at it anxiously, giving it a poke for good measure.

"Pass me a sharp," she ordered and a scalpel blade was sent through. Wet and dark, the blood beaded out a tiny prick in the attached tube, smeared red across her fingertip. Still, nothing. Swallowing hard, Alex stuck her finger in her mouth, making a disgusted face.

After a moment, she spat it out.

Hunching up, it seemed like Alex was going to be sick, instead, a low, urgent rumble escaped her. It was pain and hunger and _want_.

"I was afraid of this," Lena mused. "We can confirm that live prey is indeed necessary."

It was a terrible crossroads. To save Alex, someone else might have to die, and she would never forgive herself that. Vampires were mindless, nothing but desperate hunger and animal need. Too little was known about them, how they functioned, their changed bodies rotting away too fast to study with any real effect.

Science needed Alex and Lena knew it.

Really, there was no choice. They were running out of time. That inhuman noise would have never escaped Alex had she been in full control.

Decision made, Lena walked confidently back to where the controls for the cell were. "Kara, get the blood bag back and bring it here. We're trying something else."

Twitching with fearful worry for the person she loved most in all the world, Kara slipped the bag back out after Alex had nearly thrown it at the slot. By then, Lena had carefully inserted a clean needle into the soft flesh below her elbow. It was simple enough, her blue veins tracing beneath pale skin.

"Why are getting more if she won't take it?"

Poor Kara sounded so puppyishly confused. Well, that might not be a bad thing, because Lena was running on instinct and not intellect right now. With a few smooth moves, the bag was repaired, threaded to the needle and a quick-release crimp clipped to it. Then she shoved the bag into Kara's hands.

"Hold my arm level and the bag above it. Pull the crimp loose if my grip fails."

With that, Lena grabbed Kara's wrist tight, flexing tendons around the needle, ignored the growing alarm on her friend's face and smacked the release button.

As the thick door swung open, the change was clear… and quick. Alex's very startled, very human expression went raw and hungry. For the briefest moment, Lena could clearly see how those brown eyes dilated to black, then flared bright and terrifying, not unlike Kara's heat vision. Almost faster than her eyes could follow, Alex was on her, upper lip tensed back from her teeth, a flash of pale sharpness where normal, blunt canines should be. Hard hands were on her, grabbing her to Alex's muscled frame, hot breath on her neck all the warning she had before a jab of pain in the wet heat of that open, hungry mouth.

And the damnest sensation flooded into her like a drug. 

It was heat and wet in a different way, sensual and slowing. It was a hot bath and a full-body massage and slow sex in the warm sunlight. 

Was that guttural moan hers?

While Alex seemed to be adapting to this shocking, horrifying change, it was a façade. Panic clawed and bit at her with all the ferocity of the creature that had killed her human life.

But it all vanished when the door swung open. 

The stinking, austere lines of the cell, Kara's familiar presence, the lab, all of it was white noise to the hot glare of Lena Luthor. Like a pit viper with prey close, Alex didn't think, but only reacted. Impossibly fast, she was wrapped around that heat, clamping her prey tight to her, fangs gloriously aching as they appeared and sank into Lena with the ease of a lover, wet and ready. 

It felt like molten metal on ice, the way the heat exploded through her head and down her spine to radiate out into her changed body. Life-giving, so desperately needed and worlds away the sexiest sensation she'd ever felt.

And with that heat came sanity, the remembrance that this heat, this willing prey… meant something to her. With an agony of effort, Alex pulled away, mourning the loss of that warmth like she was violently removing a limb. But she remained herself, a soul just trying to do the right thing, who cared about the woman in her arms.

Moments or years could have passed in that happy place, Lena had no idea. Then there was a dull sensation of movement in her flesh, Alex groaning low and needy… but nonetheless removing those brutal, sharp fangs that should hurt…. Shouldn't they?

Loathe to leave this woman's lovely warmth completely, Alex mouthed her neck, licking away the traces of vital fluid and relishing the taste of her skin. There was still hunger in her, but it wasn't the animal desperation now.

Now? She felt a more familiar hunger.

Grabbing hands turned gentle, spread over the smooth planes of Lena's back in embrace. Alex exhaled a huff laced with growl, their shared heat caught in that humid breath.

"Thank you," was little more than a whisper, brushing lips and nose against Lena's strong neck in caress, feather-light. With a shuddering breath, Lena felt more sanity return, noted that she'd fisted her hand into Alex's hair, the strands damp and soft from her recent hose-down. 

Though she definitely wasn't trying to pull her away!

Swallowing hard flexed muscle and tendon against that soft mouth, once again harmless at her skin.

"You're worth taking a chance," Lena whispered back with a soft truthfulness perhaps not exactly characteristic of her. That finally brought Alex's head up, cocked curiously, expression so soft and adoring that Lena's heart gave a kick that had nothing to do with the blood donation.

"Uh, guys? Everything okay?"

Kara's voice made both of them jump a little, having utterly forgotten there was anything in the world but the two of them. The spell broken, Alex automatically went into worried caregiver mode, her embrace shifting to support.

"Oh, god, _are_ you okay? Any lightheadedness? When was the last time you ate? God, you wonderful idiot, I might have infected you! Dammit…"

Lena only smiled, soaking up the fretting and giving the handful of hair a sharp tug to focus Alex.

"Worth it. But I suppose I ought to sit down."

That snapped the sisters into action, the two of them gently lowering Lena to the office chair nearby, Alex kneeling to fuss over her. 

"Your color looks good and, weird, there's no mark except for these two little red dots."

Lena shuddered and pulled away from the tender fingers where that mouth had only just lain.

"Sensitive," she managed to rasp out, caught between the drug-like high, the blood donation and really wanting to shove Alex up against the desk and beg to be fucked until screaming. "But I think we can pass on the emergency transfusion at least."

Quick and competent, the needle was gone and the tiny mark swabbed and covered.

"You didn't tell Kara what type of blood you need."

The comment very much felt like a blind shot at casual conversation in a loaded situation. Lena willingly took the opening.

"You know, I never thought being a universal recipient would come in handy quite like this."

"AB+, huh?"

"You do know your stuff, Director."

Everything sounded like flirting.

For the sake of safety, Alex returned to her cell willingly enough, though her worry and want was clear on her face. Kara gently scooped Lena up and carried her to a smaller holding area to await the verdict on her humanity. Setting her burden down on the cot built into the wall, she rested her head against her dear friend's.

"Thank you," Kara whispered, voice aching with emotion. "I know things have been weird with us lately, but you stepped up anyway."

Weird. Again Lena was flooded with conflicting recollection, speaking without thinking. "Have you contacted Kelly?"

Kara's head snapped up faster than any human's could, utterly shocked. "How did you remember Kelly?"

"James of cour…" And there is was, proof it wasn't just her after all. More things clicked into place. "James never came here, but stayed in Metropolis. So, Kelly never followed."

"You remember."

The awe in Kara's voice warmed Lena, pushed away ever more of the stewing resentments that had driven her away from the superfriends. "We'll talk later. Lock up behind you. I'll just be relaxing here."

And relaxed as she was, Lena very much feeling drugged and floaty. If she'd thrown away her future in saving Alex from starving, well, there were worse ways to feel than this she supposed. Time passed in a daze, little sparks of reaction zipping up and down Lena's nerves like the aftershocks of a quaking orgasm. 

"Would you like some company of a sort?"

The softly spoken question puzzled Lena until she realized that it came from Buster.

"You know me too well. That would be nice."

"Sure thing."

Lena slowly blinked her eyes open to squint a bit in the glare, watching Kara where she sat in on of the lab's chairs, holding her head and poking at the computer there. "Come on," she grumbled, her voice carrying through the speakers in the cell. Before Lena could speak, the computer screen shifted to show a video feed of a man in a stylized red cowl that she knew well… yet was a complete stranger.

"Hey Supergirl."

"Barry, oh thank goodness. Am I the only one who is having the weirdest, worst day?"

A blonde woman half pushed The Flash out of frame, ignoring his protests. "You too, huh? We seem to have --and I can't believe I'm saying this-- a werewolf problem in Star City. You?"

A second video window opened to another familiar face while Sara was speaking. Her normally stoic expression was more open and bruised than they were used to seeing her. A little quirk of smile over Kate's face conveyed relief, joy, trepidation and utter exhaustion. 

"Well, the reboot seems to have erased my twin being lost for half my life and turning into a psychotic mass murderer, so that's nice. Even if I'm going to be jumping at shadows for awhile. She is, however, an obnoxious socialite obsessed with shoes. I'll take it. The aliens and sorcery thing is going to take a little getting used to though. No offense, SG."

"None taken," Kara reassured easily and her voice remained strangely blasé over her next words. "Though my sister was killed by vampires last night." 

Lena almost wanted to facepalm at the delivery, the other three utterly horrified, Kara hastened to explain.

"But, oddly, she seems okay. I can't help but wonder if it wasn't my alien blood. And she doesn't seem to have infected my bestie who volunteered for a proper… feed."

Yeah, Lena sympathized to the distaste on that word, illustrating so clearly just how weird things were now. Kara roughly cleared her throat and her voice was a little wobbly as she continued on.

"Buster, can you show them the scans?"

"Certainly."

"Now, I'm no doctor, but those invasive cells not only seem dormant, but are dying rapidly. Lena's been so out of it that she didn't even notice me take a couple of blood draws. Also, Alex's cells are fascinating."

That was enough to perk Lena up, shedding the soft cocoon of good feels as best she could. Standing up and heading for the door, she quipped, "at least this time I get a choice in who I'm in thrall to."

Surprisingly, the strangers who were no strangers in the monitor, huffed wryly along with Kara. The part of her full of knowledge of vampires and lore the realm of the horror and scifi genres to her other, older memories, knew their names, knew they were contractors to the DEO, which Lex had bought into partnership of many years ago. It all made her head hurt.

"She remembers," Kara said simply and once more Sara, Barry and Kate looked shocked.

"But…. How?"

Barry's disbelief was in stark contrast to Sara's flat stare. The stare of a predator, but at least not one with fangs. 

"Call it a hunch," Sara drawled calmly, currents of danger not-so-subtle beneath. "But I bet Lex has something to do with that."

That cast a pall over the four until Sara perked up with exaggerated cheer. "Oh hey! So are the rumors true? Is she like extra hot now?"

Barry looked extremely uncomfortable with the turn in conversation, but couldn't escape Sara half draped over his back. Kate's face went through a hilarious riot of reaction until she had to bring a hand up to cover her snicker and grin. 

"Sara!" Kara yiped like a dog getting its tail stepped on. "Not helping!"

"Hey, science can't answer _every_ question!"

"Like hell it can't," Alex's voice suddenly broke into the conversation and yet another window opened on the screen. She looked tired and a little needy, but she was definitely Alex.

"Hey, Big Al," Sara said with gentle teasing. "Good to see you."

"Same. Lena? How are you doing?"

Drawn like a magnet, Lena drifted over to press her hand to the transparent barrier, mirroring Alex's raised hand, just as Kara had done. "Warm and alive and none the worse for wear save some weariness from the… donation." They weren't the only ones who huffed in small amusement at the choice of words. "That bite of yours is potent stuff, I have to say."

"That's it!" Sara crowed and Barry squawked as she almost strangled him in her enthusiasm. "I gotta see if that sex-pheromones-venom-whatever-to-soften-up-the-prey thing is really a thing! Be there in a few, gotta get me the right gear for my Flash-taxi!"

"Aww, Sara," Barry whined, "you weigh a ton for your size!"

They blinked out, leaving Kate's stifled amusement the only sound for a long moment. Then Lena blinked and smiled, her voice gentle. "Then I guess we better make sure you didn't leave a lasting impression, huh, hot stuff?"

Kate's laughter rang through the lab.

\----

By the time Barry and Sara arrived in a crackle of yellow lightning, Buster was analyzing a bead of blood taken from Lena's earlobe. She quickly confirmed to the assembly that not only were the foreign cells in her harmless, but all of them were dead and being quickly recycled.

"So, Sunny Sis rendered you impotent, eh?" Sara teased and struck a rakish pose facing the cell containing a sleepy-eyed Alex. "Hey, hot stuff! How about a partial revisit to that one night stand?"

It seemed safer to have Barry and Lena wait in the other cell to stay off Alex's radar, while Kara remained on guard duty and Kate watched in silent fascination from the monitor. A grumbling Alex pasted little sticky sensors to her skin in several places, biometric data flooding into Buster's circuits and passed on to the data pad Lena held.

"Your temp and blood pressure still aren't optimal," Lena mused, refusing to look up from the pad. She was feeling strangely disjointed and antsy and even a little irritable with Sara. It was stupid though, she was there to help Alex!

"Well, let's see if we can do something about that."

Sara and the Danvers sisters had agreed to the wrist-grip technique of Lena's, adding in a slap to the side would be the signal for Alex to back off. Lena turned away so as to keep her attention on the scientific readings of this wholly unique chapter of how their world worked.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Hit it, Kara."

There was no wild rush this time, though the most fascinating changes swept over Alex's body; a surge of heat and energy and the sorcerous power that fueled things more than human. She was tense, taking Sara's free arm and gently biting the soft inner curve of elbow. Both of them instantly relaxed, Alex's body flaring with heat. Despite her confused emotions, Lena was engrossed in this first wave of new information about how humankind's ancient enemy might work. But every scrap of information was a gift.

If only Alex hadn't suffered for it.

At exactly seventeen seconds, Alex left off, the warmth she'd taken in flushing out to equilibrium in her body. While Sara hadn't made a sound throughout the whole process, the changes in her breathing were telling. As Alex straightened up, Sara cleared her throat noisily and her voice was rough and low.

"I thought you were going to go for the neck."

Almost against her will, Lena turned to watch, noting that Alex could still blush.

"Yeah, well this seemed less… intimate."

"Tell my jangling hormones that."

The teasing note under the breathlessness of the hormone cocktail Lena remembered clearly, finally seemed to break the spell hovering over all of them. Shaking herself out, Sara tested out joints and limbs to make sure everything still worked, eyeing for a moment the two red marks on her skin. Before a clearly embarrassed and unnerved Alex could slink away, Sara grabbed her arm, not missing the strength there that nearly pulled her off her feet.

"How are you doing?"

The gentle question clearly startled Alex, rooting her to the spot. It took her a moment to respond, voice reflecting how out of itshe was, startling when Kara moved close to put gentle hands on her.

"The truth? I don't think it's really sunk in yet."

"Yeah, I believe it." The gentle tone hardened into the position of leadership they all respected in Sara, reflected in how her body language changed to reflect the danger in her. "Now, listen to me."

"Like I have a--"

The deflection didn't work and Sara instantly shut it down. "No, Danvers, shut up and listen. You did not become a monster." The words seemed to hang there in the air like a living thing. After a moment, Sara saw it start to sink into Alex, easing some of the stress in her. Good. So she gentled again, stepping into Alex's personal space and putting hands on those strong arms. "You need to hear that not just from hyper-loyal sister or adoring fellow uber-brain. I gave myself up to those new teeth of yours and you didn't take advantage. That means everything."

The words were out there now, slowly sinking into Alex's consciousness, even as they would take time to fully process along with the rest of the insanity. Still, she nodded jerkily and didn't fight the quick, rough hug.

"Is it safe now?" Barry asked tentatively, Lena jumping a bit as she'd completely forgotten his presence beside her.

Alex chuckled a little wetly and turned, bracing herself. "Try it. If there's anyone who can outrun a hungry me, it's you, I suppose."

Barry chuckled a little tensely and shoved open the door.

Nothing happened and they all felt relief.

But Lena did not miss the way Alex's eyes snapped to her, discounted the man beside her, and the rush of raw feeling was a physical sensation pickling along her skin and bones.

"I guess you can use that old joke now," Barry tried for levity. "Hey, did you ask her type? Yes. And what did she say? O positive."

Sara quickly stalked over to slap him up alongside the head while Kate and the sisters snerked in the lessened high energy of the room.

\----

And so began Alex's new life.

Kara roped in J'onn to not just check over Alex's mental health, but to get the rest of the DEO up to speed on what was going on with their leader. While there were a few who reacted badly --no shock given how many of their own had died at the fangs of the Leeches-- the vast majority were relieved and intrigued. The tiny badges of honor worn by Lena and Sara, along with the openly shared blood scans, were enough proof. Susan hadn't even waited past Kara saying, "she's safe to everyone, honest," before limping her way down to the lab, head held high.

"You know I always wanted a piece of you, boss, but this will do."

That broke pretty much any lingering fears or reluctance, even as Alex laughed with high emotion and broke protocol to hug her sidekick. "When you're in one piece, Vas."

There might have been a pushback if the dreaded Pam from HR hadn't arrived then to be meal number three. She too felt the drugging pleasure experienced from the sun-sterilized cells that would normally have changed human to vampire. And with that third feeding, Alex seemed remarkably normal, color good, body temperature normalized, little indicating that anything untoward had even happened to her.

The world moved on, despite the enormity of what Alex had become. As Lena inexplicably remembered what reality had been like before the Monitor and his antimatter double, the Paragons filled her in. No one was sorry when Lex's mangled corpse was pulled from the devastation of that first night's attack, even as Lena once more was wracked with mixed feelings. Everyone could only guess that her memories were his doing, a tool to torture her once again.

Alex merely quipped, "So you rebooted reality and it went a little… Anne Rice?"

The Paragons just groaned at her for the flippancy.

It was a blessing that J'onn could restore other's missing memories, layer them in with the knowledge and history of this utterly new reality they were all in. That was also a lifesaver for the remaining Paragons, who needed some serious coaching to fit in. It would take some time to adapt to the insanity, a jumble of science, weird supernatural sorcery and sexiness.

Though maybe that last one was just Lena. Because, dear lord, was she pining like a forest full of lumber.

The vampire activity nearly dried up after the huge attack, though the spectral energy skyrocketed in response to so much death. Specialized teams of cleanup and mental health professionals went about their morbidly familiar routines of helping humanity soldier on. The DEO kept up patrols even with their drastically reduced numbers, kicked over every rock to peer into the shadows and kill anything that was dangerous there.

It was a busy week before Alex felt the strange new hungers pinch at her again.

She had remained at the DEO behind the fortressed walls while she and everyone else adjusted. Luckily, her miraculous immunity to sunlight not only held, but it turned out she had also inherited Kara's need for the solar glare in order to flourish. Lena would never forget the sweet sight of the sister's sitting cross-legged on one of the balconies having an impromptu picnic in full uniform, giggling like kids. 

The way the sunshine turned Alex's hair to embers and her beautiful eyes to chocolate as they saw her and turned smiles on her…

She wasn't proud of herself for retreating at a near-jog to get away from the suffocating feelings brought into painfully sharp focus the moment those teeth sank into her neck.

A new danger arrived nearly in sync with Alex drawing off volunteered blood from one of the secretaries, in order to not take someone off the field teams. A quartet of officious government agents, there to collect Alex and the research she had provided. Lena could sense the imminent catastrophe from half a floor away and hastened to throw herself into the middle of it.

"You have barely enough jurisdiction here to even get in the building, Agent Not Important. And before you start spluttering and posturing, let me remind you that the DEO belongs to LuthorCorp and if that annoys you, feel free to inform your superiors why I'm about this close to ejecting their involvement at all."

The full Luthor backed by a wall of sheer menace from every DEO agent that had converged on the scene, spoiling for a fight, had the suits in reluctant retreat. In the tense silence that followed, Alex sighed, "well that was awkward. Thanks everybody, but let's get back to work."

Still keyed up from the confrontation, Lena jumped at a hand on her arm, snapping around to melt at Alex's warm smile.

"You were amazing, thank you. That particular danger has been nagging me since I woke up in that cell and that went far better than even my best scenario."

Now, Lena had always recognized that Alex was attractive, both inside and out --it was hard to miss-- but ever since that fateful day, the pull was to her was an itch Lena couldn't scratch. So, the officious idiots were utterly forgotten in the face of her constant whirlwind of high emotion.

Alex felt it too, and sighed longingly when Lena only smiled an undecipherable smile and walked away without a word. She didn't know exactly how to untangle the knots in her heart that felt like they'd always been there. Threads of longing, lust and love that she remembered from a past with Maggie echoed in both sets of memories and the bittersweet of Kelly, their shared connection lost to her in the burn of red skies. Maybe if she'd remained human, there might have been a chance of reconnection, but like this?

No, the Olsens were safer without her around their lives.

But Lena was as intertwined in her life as anyone except Kara: friend, coworker, boss and…

And.

Alex didn't really have anything after that, only a yawning chasm of unknown and want.

"You know I'm not the sort to interfere," Susan said where she suddenly appeared at Alex's elbow, making her jump a bit. "but you two are being idiots."

Too startled to take offense, Alex only stared into Susan's implacably calm face. After a moment, the latter sighed expressively, even as her expression barely changed.

"This?" Susan gestured from Alex to where Lena was vanishing down the hallway, "isn't one sided. Disasters, the both of you."

Left gawking, Alex could only watch Susan stalk away.

Was she right? Was this unspoken energy between Lena and herself more than gratitude and the strange effect she had on her donators? For all the disaster she could be around women, this felt right.

And really, there was only one way to find out.

Ignoring Susan's smirk, Alex held her head high and walked out, determined to get some more information.

There was another side effect of Alex's transformation that she had barely mentioned, because it was sort of… embarrassing. Oh, everyone knew about the glowing eyes that indicated the activation of a low-light vision so sensitive cats would be jealous, the great strength and speed, the near instantaneous healing, blah, blah, blah.

But no one really knew how sensitive her sense of smell had become.

Thankfully, that particular gift seemed inclined to filter out scents as they were cataloged away, gradually fine-tuning the cacophony of stink all around her. However, there was a notable exception to that. For Alex was forever distracted by the constant barrage of the sweet and sour smells of what was now her natural prey.

If Alex hadn't finally gotten a clue about being gay, the smell of women would have done it. Oh, the men smelled like prey, certainly, but they were harsh on her senses, nearly setting her nerves on edge. But the women? Oh, the women…

It was a good thing she didn't need to eat much.

With no baseline, no one had any clue how much blood would sustain Alex. After four or five days, she had been noticing that regular food --which she could thankfully still eat-- and sunlight were no longer enough. So far, she hadn't pushed herself past a week, aware that she was testing her self-control at that point and might become a danger to those around her.

But right now, she was flush with fresh blood, freely given.

And had questions that needed answers.

In the tangle of scents, Alex singled out the sweetness that was Lena and let her new instincts track her. Some part of her, well-trained and now supernaturally enhanced, was well aware of how others deferred to her now, the awe and fear, the way they would move away from her path. While a big part of her hated it, the predator in her basked in it. No matter that her human soul cared about her fellow sentient beings, the vampire she had become still knew they were prey.

The dichotomy was jarring most days.

Away from the busier areas for the agents, were smaller sectors for those that did other jobs at the DEO. Black ops paramilitary agencies still needed secretaries and janitors and a genius billionaire with a heart as big as the ocean.

In the locker room provided for the civilians, Alex found her. For a moment, she trailed her gaze over Lena's fine form, and the ache of wanting to do more than look was sharp.

"So, rumors are flying."

Startled, Lena whirled around and had to fight down the urge to do something femininely dramatic like press her hand to her heart. Or possibly faint. It wasn't easy, because the sensual intensity radiating from Alex was like an open fire, dangerously close.

"Ru-- rumors?"

Oh, that breathless tone, the spike in her lovely smell, the tide of lusty heat, all of it was drugging temptation and Alex was weak for it. Prowling closer, she hovered just at the edge of polite distance, watched those glorious green eyes dilate. 

"That you have me in a daze," Alex purred, swallowing down any urge to growl and be possessive. This woman was not to be done in with that. She had been hurt to many times. This woman deserved softness and adoration and loyalty and those, vampire or no, Alex could give. "Wanting more from you than just your brilliant mind and damaged friendship."

Part of Lena twitched unpleasantly from memories of what had happened between herself and friends made in this city. But part of her understood the reasons, no matter how damaging. And, frankly, those big, soulful eyes looking at her like that could probably convince her to do just about anything.

"More?"

Maybe that breathless quiver that sounded as suggestive as the teeth in her neck had made her feel should bother Lena and the armor of self-control she relied on so much. But… she what had denial brought her? Nearly to catastrophic loneliness and deprivation.

Slowly, just at the edge of timidly, Alex stepped closer, Lena never looking away from her dark eyes. Lena's cold fingers seemed drawn to the blood-flush heat of her, coming to rest on the thick material of the battle suit, both of them inhaling sharply at the contact.

"There's--" Lena's voice broke like a teenage boy and they both huffed in some small humor, the intensity of the moment lessened a fraction. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "There's an appeal in more."

"There is," Alex agreed, just as softly. She cupped her hands around Lena's elbows, just resting her fingertips against the body heat that radiated through the thin silk. Somehow, the mixing warmth of them eased each, drew them closer. Lena rubbed a fingertip over the curve of bicep while Alex gently massaged her bent elbows. 

"I know every woman you encounter now is fascinated with you, but could maybe…" Lena faltered, eyes dropping, too afraid to ask and be rejected again. Gentle fingers tilted her chin up, Alex's expression soft and welcoming.

"Could maybe you be more? I'd like that."

Overwhelmed with the sweetness of belonging, Lena pressed in, quickly enveloped in a hug that felt like a new beginning. Alex rubbed her back and scalp, nuzzling the dark hair. Both wallowed in the closeness, settled into their unexpected closeness.

"Thank you, by the way, for coming to my defense. I've been terrified of that scenario."

There was no mistaking real fear in Alex's voice and Lena pulled back enough to look at her with earnest eyes.

"Oh Alex, of course I did. You're still you behind the teeth. You've more than proven that."

Pressing their foreheads together, noses touching, they breathed together before Lena whispered, "can I kiss you? Make it official?"

"Yes."

And so they began.

**Author's Note:**

> Shatterpath: so what if the extranormal in DEO meant something a touch more... supernatural?  
> this is friend 2's fault, btw, it was that sexy gif of Lena and bitey vampire ideas, dammit! not even one of my kinks! but Alex always sorta hungry and eerie and with that edge of danger to make her all the sharper? yeah, i can mess with that  
> (friend 1): Like ghosts and demons and cryptids? Will they be hunting them or whatever like OG deo or more processing and tracking like Men In Black. Alex in a MiB suit?  
> Shatterpath: Yes. Alex got a little TOO close and got herself killed by a Leech. But she got better... of a sort  
> (friend 2):  
> https://shatterpath.tumblr.com/post/190568602623/femaleheroes-bite-me-magicalstripedhorse-is  
> Shatterpath: YES, THAT ONE YOU MONSTER  
> (friend 2): Had to!!!!!  
> Shatterpath: SO, what if there's a whole different twist to Crisis? like Earth Prime is suddenly all supernatural? no one knows WHY. and since Lena apparently randomly remembered how the world once was (did they explain that?), she's gonna be a little WTF?
> 
> maybe Kara donated a little blood in an emergency. Set Alex into a screaming frenzy, nearly killed her, but now she's immune to sunlight. could even be a couple steps strong, faster, more immune to damage than the average Leech.  
> WAIT, wait, wait!!! I got it. Okay, so Alex gets attacked by a Leech and is totally gonna not survive. Out of desperation, Kara takes a chance, cutting herself to give her something before she starves, not even thinking about the sunlight connection. It... alters Alex is ways that has everyone baffled. She's still in full-out animalistic, locked up for everyone's safety. So who does Kara go to?  
> Kara feels horrible, thinking she did this to Alex, but Lena gets an infrared flashlight and figures out that Alex is incongruously immune to it, though she reflexively flinches. Getting some blood samples should be dangerously hilarious. Kara wrestling her down, snarling and snapping. "Jeez, it's like wrestling a tiger. When did you get so strong?"
> 
> and since Alex isn't a mindless feeder/killer, and can't infect anyone AND her agents love her, she'll have plenty of willing food. it'll be weird as hell at first, but so is their whole stupid reality!  
> daskey: AJGIDFSGDFG. plenty of willing food since she's such a ladykiller lmaooo. without even realizing  
> Shatterpath: An EMT pal says the human body will regenerate a pint of blood per month. My guess is that can be sped up a bit with regular feedings. But a nice treat on those nights once they start adding sex into the feeding too. i'm figuring Alex gets hungry around every week unless she's really exerted herself or gotten hurt, etc.  
> goddess, but the image of the women volunteers, because they all KNOW Alex is queer as hell and don't want to make her uncomfortable. Even the married moms toddle off with that stupid, well-fucked grin on their face from the bite. Hilarity!  
> she feed off the guys if she has to, of course. but, "they just... taste weird, okay? Don't ask me to explain, i can't. But i'll eat beef not to be hungry, even though i'm all about the fish. Which sounds so wrong now that I've said it."  
> daskey: AKGSDOFGSDOFG. the endorphins and all the other happy sexy chemicals running through the ladies  
> Shatterpath: no shortage of volunteers. can you imagine the giggly conversations after awhile as they compare notes? OMG. Alex walks into the room to refill her water mug or something and starts out all embarrassed, but eventually plays it up with a wink and strut. but it's just business. Call it a weird job perk!
> 
> it occurred to me that VampAlex would fret that no one would want her now except for the drugging effect she has on them. But Lena points out that she can never separate herself from that now. Because these two are NERDS and think about crap like that.  
> Lena sauntering in and plopping herself down on Alex's desk, between her knees. "So, Director, Danvers, it's been a month since you got all toothy. Feel like a reenactment?"  
> and Lena is the lucky asshole who gets a high regularly. Nothing says Alex has to take more than a sip!  
> daskey: probably better that she does it bit by bit rather than drain a large amount each time i'd think
> 
> Crafter: Just passed through a silly dialogue that reminded me of a crack version of your vampire au   
> Flirty interested person: Hey, did you ask her type? -yes -and what did she say? - O+


End file.
